Was just doing the ol' YouTube thing and saw the latest ERBoH (Bruce Banner Vs. Bruce Jenner). I've had a lot of love for ERBoH through the years, but this was kinda... I just don't know? I fully realize it's not intended to be hateful, but LoL... it's kinda... ugh. Here, just check it out:
So the person they got to play Caitlyn is some freestyle rapper called NoShame who is transgender herself.
Here's her story in a nutshell which I copypasta'd from a couple different sources:
"I battled as a male, in the [now unfashionable] freestyle genre, but after I transitioned I decided that I wouldn't battle any more. But [Dallas radio DJ] Headkrack told me that I was wasting my talent, and an opportunity to shine a light on my situation. It wasn't "go chase your dreams," it was "you owe this to your community."
"If your mother has a disability, it's gonna get used in a battle. So for me to be like "I'm trans, don't bring that up because it might be offensive to my community" would be asking for special treatment. And that's the last thing that I want. The only exception was Kidd K in my debut for AHAT. If I could, I would've punched him in his face, because he started with hate speech even before the battle. I wanted to kick that guy's ass. I got in his face like "please, dude, swing on me, and get your ass kicked by a ->-bleeped-<-."
"Currently I'm not talking like I do on a daily-basis or when I'm at work. When I'm out in public and I'm not in the Battle Rap world, I talk like a female," she said. "I act like a female. To be honest, most of the time I get [people saying] 'Ma'am.' I know that's hard for people to believe 'cause it's like they see me rapping and they just see this big, tall mother->-bleeped-<-er there with a deep voice. It's hard for them to picture me being dainty, but that's what actually happens. When I go into the battle world, and I've had people tell me this, like, 'We wouldn't have accepted you if you came in dainty. If you would have came in light like that we wouldn't have accepted you.' I knew that going in because I've been in the battle culture, I knew what had to be done and I knew how it had to be done."
"To be honest with you, my ultimate goal is just to open up some eyes...to bring Battle Rap into the mainstream," she later said. "If LGBT people accept it, really I think it's kind of like the last crusade, if you could open that door and get Hip Hop to realize it's alright to bring that in, they could see the revenue that would be generated...It's an awareness both ways. I'm introducing the Battle Rap culture into the LGBT community and at the same time I'm introducing the LGBT community to the Battle Rap culture. Really man, what's sad is they're both about struggle. They both are rooted in struggle. It's really the same story. It's sad to see it divided 'cause it really should harmonize very well together."
Here's NoShame in a rap battle: The pejorative (to most of you) term ->-bleeped-<- (I personally dgaf really) gets slung around liberally by her. Lots of language too, obv.
It's hard for me to put into words how I feel about this... it's either a trainwreck or a triumph.
So what do you guys think about her? Is she a role model for bravery in a notoriously rough culture? Is she just flaunting her talent? Or is she using the trans struggle (if you will) as a platform for increasing her exposure?
Would love to hear opinions about this unique individual.
